This invention relates to tamper indicating closures and containers by which a tamper indicating ring formed as part of the closure is separated from the closure when an attempt is made to remove the closure thereby indicating tampering.
Tamper indicating closures and containers of a popular type typically employ a closure having an annular skirt with a tamper indicating ring connected thereto by frangible means so that any effort to remove the closure from the container causes the tamper indicating ring to be held against axial movement by engagement of retainer or stop means on the container and on the closure so that the tamper indicating ring separates from the closure giving evidence of an effort to remove the closure and therefore of tampering.
In one form of such tamper indicating closures and containers the stop means on the tamper indicating ring and on the container are in the form of complementary annular beads which engage each other after the closure is first applied to the container to resist removal of the ring from the container. Difficulties are encountered in applying the closure to the container because the interference of the beads on the container and closure sometimes results in premature fracture of the frangible means by which a tamper indicating ring is attached to the closure. In an effort to avoid this problem, attempts have been made to substitute flexible stop means or fingers or annular flanges for the fixed bead on the tamper indicating ring. An example of such structure can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,470,513 to Ostrowsky. In that patent the stop means on the tamper indicating ring are in the form of flexible fingers which engage the beads on the exterior of the container neck after the closure has been applied to the container. Any attempt to remove the closure from the container causes engagement of the free ends of the fingers with the underside of the container bead thereby causing a separation of the tamper indicating ring from the closure to indicate tampering.
Both forms of tamper indicating packages have deficiencies which the present invention overcomes.